


Who's the Fugitive in Time Now?

by Misthiel



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 1943, Chaptered, Eiffel Tower, Episode: s12e02 Spyfall Part 2, Gen, POV The Doctor (Doctor Who), POV The Master (Doctor Who), Paris (City), Period-Typical Racism, Post-Episode: s12e01 Spyfall Part 1, Season/Series 12, Some tags are for later, Sorry Not Sorry, Spoilers, Spoilers for Episode: s12e10 The Timeless Children, WIP, War, my second fanfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-02-24 23:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22266247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misthiel/pseuds/Misthiel
Summary: The 77 most infuriating years of the Master's life have a beginning: Paris, 1943. He's trapped on a city on war and he knows he won't escape easily.A series of chapters (WIP!) about what could have happened to the Master after the events at the Eiffel Tower. I hope you like it!The first two chapters are focused on how he escapes, still planing the rest as independent stories.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	1. The Ambush

**Paris, 1943.**

"I believe there's been a misunderstanding. Can we talk about this? You've always struck me as such reasonable people."

All around him were weapons. He could see the darkness of the long barrels pointing at him, the disbelief painted on the soldier's looks. More men kept arriving, surrounding him. They had him cornered. 

_"Bloody Doctor..."_ He hated being outdone, he **absolutely** detested that, especially when the Doctor did. She would never admit it, but deep down, they were both the same. She only hid it behind a false facade of concern and kindness. They were a lie. A sneaky, silent lie. But the Doctor didn’t believe him. It was obvious she would do anything to ignore that she might have lost her beloved and precious planet again. She always runs away, like a despicable coward. Never stops, never stays. He looked at the elevator out of the corner of his eye. If someone had looked carefully at his eyes, they could have seen like a fire, his eyes reflecting the rage of not being able to stop her.  
_"I swear I'll get you. I swear. And when I do it, oh... You'll regret it. I will-"_

Unexpectedly, a familiar rough voice took him out of his thoughts of sweet, sweet revenge.

"Where is him?" said the German general. He looked at the Master seriously and firmly, with the confidence of someone who had been giving orders for decades, with no intention of stopping now.

When The Master infiltrated the ranks of the Germans, he had to deal with some annoying people. This man was one of them. He was in his forties. A perfectly combed blond hair that was beginning to gray could be seen under his cap, while the badges on the uniform gave away his rank, higher than everyone else's.

"I said WHERE IS THE TRAITOR!?"

He cursed the Doctor again. _"The perception filter, gone. Wonderful!"_ He thought ironically. That was low, even for her. The Time Lord raised his arms in surrender.  
"Honestly, I have no idea. He's gon-"

Suddenly, the general walked past the guns, the metal floor rumbling under his heavy footsteps. He stood right in front of him, pointing at the Master with his index finger. As a warning. The Time Lord held his breath without realizing it.

" _Atchung!_ * Treat me with respect, you filthy rat! You're talking to an Aryan general, a higher race. Call me Sir!"

There was no doubt: the absence of perception filter came with the whole experience pack of racism. _"Stupid and arrogant humans. They are nothing, and yet they find a way to think they are better than others."_ The Master couldn't stand them. What did the Doctor see in those creatures? They were weak, stupid, simple and **extremely** repulsive, but easy to manipulate. They do had something good.

In this moment he had nothing but his wits. Well, maybe not only that. He had his old sonic! His was far more effective than the Doctor’s, more... lethal. If he could just reach it... It was in the inside pocket of his jacket, so he needed to get the German’s attention away from him just for a moment. Time of playing the naïve one: What would O have done?

"Sorry, Sir...” he said in a low, timorous voice. Fake one, obviously. “He's gone, the German. He left few minutes ago. Downstairs, Sir."

The general nodded and two soldiers rushed downstairs. "Then, why are you wearing his clothes?" The man looked at him up and down, like he was scanning him. Luckily for the Master, he couldn’t see his two hearts beating hard under his chest.

"He... He needed some clothes to run, to go unnoticed, he said. Please." he said stammering. "Please, I'm no one. Just a mechanic, I was fixing the elevator up here. He told me to do it!"  
He looked at the Master blankly, and suddenly, he burst out laughing. Even the soldiers looked at each other in confusion.

"Of course you are no one!" He slowly stopped laughing, enjoying the moment. The Master frowned. "But you're funny, you will live. **For now.** "

The Master wanted to believe it was over. That he would get away. But something told him he wouldn't, not this time. Call it a sixth sense. The general stepped back, put his own arms behind his back and smiled. That was a stone-cold smile, colder than the wind up there. 

"Take him. You're coming with us, _mein Freund_ **."

His blood froze. _"Nononono… Damn it!"_ He had no time. Without thinking about the weapons around him, he reached into his pocket, but he couldn't pick the sonic up in time. He just felt a sharp pain on his good shoulder and couldn't repress a cry of pain. _“Two in a row. Thanks, Ada!”_ He thought. The Master instinctively covered his newly wounded shoulder and turn around, looking for the shooter. He felt the warm blood coming out, staining his hand and clothes. The anger was pumping through his veins: he just wanted to destroy them all, kill them painfully. All the dumb soldiers, the haughty general and the bloody Doctor, especially her. He bled faster: that was the curse of his physiology. The beating of his hearts speeded-up, adrenaline-fuelled, the noise pounding in his ears. The sound of drums. He shouted in rage.

His temper played against the Time Lord. It always had. This time, the overwhelming feeling didn't let him see how behind him, another soldier raised his weapon. The Master didn't feel the cold metal hitting him in the back of his neck. The last thing he saw were the blue eyes of the young soldier who had shot him. He was scared, he could see it in his eyes, and yet he had pulled the trigger. And nothing more.

The Master just sank into darkness.

____________________  
*Watch out!  
**My friend.


	2. You'll be back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master realices where he is and a shadow changes everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Sorry! For not updating it and for what you're about to read. These last months had been complicated for everyone, so I haven't written anything I thought was right until now. But there it is! The name of the chapter is from the son "You'll be back", from Hamilton, just because I listened to it a lot while writing this.
> 
> I hope I can write more after my exams, I'll probably plan more independent stories about what happened to the Master in the 20th century. I hope you like it!

The sound of drums woken him up, his head pounding with the pain in the back of his neck. The Master was lying against a cold brick wall. Whoever had taken him there hadn't been very careful, because he could feel the bruises forming on his arms and legs, under his skin. As his eyes became more used to the dim light, he began to realise the taste of iron on his mouth.

  
He spat the blood aside, his own blood that he could see under the light coming through a small barred window. The Master knew he was forgetting something, time didn’t fit properly, because he hadn’t been unconscious that long. He could feel it, like a warning light buried under a mountain of rage and hate. His mind sometimes hid things for him, it happened since he took a look inside the time vortex, when he was a child. And his mind had good reasons, but the Master was too curious and always ended up forcing that mechanism…

Images of pain came to his conscious mind, too horrible to describe, taking his breath away and making him grasp.

“Disgusting humans…” the Master said to himself. “So simple, such a primitive… behaviour.”

Some glimpses of what had happen came to his mind, reminding him of why he hated humans. Never understood that unbearable love that the Doctor had for them. Not that he wasn’t a friend of destroying things, but their acts were different. Humans, torturers without reason, murderers of their own people just because they were different. Full of hate. If only they had half of the reasons he had to do things... They were monsters, powerless and weak.

He struggled to get up, one hand on the back of his sore head. Harsh voices were coming from the corridor; a group of young soldiers complained about guarding the cells. He knew he had to get out of there as quickly as possible if he didn’t want his mind to hid things from him again. A sonic-like sound surprised him, coming from behind him. At the same time, a shadow covered the small window of his cell.

“Who…”

“Shut up, they’ll hear you!” a voice answered.

Some screws fell to the ground with a faint metallic sound and the shadow stood up for a moment, looking back and forth before crouching down again and holding the bars tight.

“You’ll have to be fast, definitely drawing their attention with this.”

“Why should I let you do this??” He began to recriminate him. “Also, the window is too high…”

“There it goes!”

The bars disappeared in a dust cloud and the shadow with it. An open hand appeared among the dirt at the same time the voices in the corridor became more aggressive. They were getting closer. He had no choice: taking a step to the unknown or going back to the pain.

“C’mon, take my hand.” The shadow said.

The Master hurried to the window, taking a small jump to reach the hand. He felt his numb muscles stretch from the effort he made to climb. He got a few scratches, but it was worth it if he got away from those who had just opened the cell door and rushed to the window, guns in hand. The shadow’s hand didn't let him go, even when he was already on the street. It felt determined, safe and familiar, but at the same time, it felt unknown.

“Now, run ‘till I tell you!”

They ran until they left behind the shots that almost hit them as they escaped, flying around them. When the dust cleared, the Master saw the figure of the shadow better while running. They were small, covered by a dark cloak swaying in the wind. He was too tired to look further, so he let the hand guide him until they stop behind a wall, next to the river.

While the shadow looked around to confirm that they were safe, the Master leaned on his knees, catching his breath.

“Do you... usually get people you don’t know out of cells… after they’ve been tortured… and make them run across Paris or am I the lucky one?” He said with a funny tone while breathing heavily.

“Oh, shut up! Don’t make me regret this, okay? Because tell me, old friend… who’s the fugitive in time now?”

The Master looked up just to find the face of a blonde woman too near, hidden under a black hood, eyes shining with the colour of a shallow sea. He hasn’t been this close to her since… he couldn’t remember. A shiver ran down his back when she took her hood off. His reaction was to stand up, trying to show a strength that he lacked at the moment.

“Of all the people in the universe… What are YOU doing here, Doctor?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Getting you out of that place.”

“Oh, then you regret leaving me to MY FATE, surrounded by those you knew would finish me off in a matter of hours?”

“And what if I regret it? It wasn’t right, jamming your perception filter.”

The Master laughed lightly, but not for a long time because his bruised ribs hurt. He winced.

“You’re injured. Let me help you to…” The Doctor said, feeling responsible for his miserable state. He stepped away, refusing her help

“You’re so weak, Doctor… You always have been.” He answered. Knowing what he knew about the Doctor’s past he would never, ever, be grateful to her. Even if he really was, the Master wouldn’t show it. He didn’t want her pity.

“Weak for mending my mistakes? Don’t think so. And it’s funny you say that.” She took a determined step, getting closer to the Master, who flinched, almost theatrically, and looked at her curiously. “Why don’t you tell me about YOUR mistake? Although I can't find any suitable explanation for THAT being an error.

Her expression was severe. The Master would have compared it to the sight of a far tornado, silent but dangerous, destructive. The Oncoming Storm, they used to call her, and in that moment, the name suited her.

“Oh, so you’ve been there…” In an act of stupid courage, He smiled and got closer to her face, speaking with delight in his cracked voice. “Dear, that wasn’t a mistake. It was a dream came true.”

The anger grew inside the Doctor, clenching her fist. She was repressing the fury; he could see it. Only if she knew how beautiful that anger was when she let it loose... A poem.

While he was busy admiring her, the Master let his guard down. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain go through his mind, like a flash. Just an image; he in front of the Matrix, back in Gallifrey.

He shook his head, releasing the pain and making the Doctor grunt. She had tried to access his memories, but his head had always been a mess and it was easy to bump into anything and warn him. The Doctor had turned around and looked down, frustrated by the failure. And he knew she was also ashamed of what she just tried to do. He knew her too well. They had spent many years together, back in the Academy. Years full of lies, but now he knew her better than anyone. Even than herself.

“That was a nasty trick, Doctor.”

“Might have learned from the best, huh?” She said, turning around, with tearful eyes. “Just WHY?? Why did you do that? Why did you destroy Gallifrey?”

“Because I had to.”

“Sure. After everything I’ve been through to protect it, save it from the Time War and from the own Time Lords’ stupidity!! For the sake of the rest of Gallifreyans...” She looked him directly on the eyes. “For the children. And you just killed them all.”

The Master hated the feeling. Seeing her standing there, his old friend, shouting at him like she had some especial morality. And in some way, she did. So, on one hand, he (kind of) regretted hurting her, but on the other… he hated her for what she was. What she represented.

“I did it for you, believe it or not.” He approached her. “Now, take that statement as you wish, Doctor. It’s your speciality.”  
The Doctor sighed, desperate.

“So, you’re not telling me.”

“Not yet. It’s not the right moment.” He nodded. He had something much bigger prepared only for her. “But I’ll do, be sure. And you won’t like it.”

Inside her, she wished to keep shouting at him, to demand answers at any cost. To punch him or push him into the river, so she wouldn't see him again. Not that version of him. She wanted to see her old friend again. To look at him directly in his dark eyes and see more than just the rage, pain and sadness that flooded them. She wanted that back. That friendship older than most civilizations, and infinitely more complex.

The Doctor had been lost in his thoughts for a moment and only the Master’s voice brought her back.

“Why did you come here?”

“Because you wouldn’t have lasted a day here and I was responsible. Some of us really care about that, you know?” She reproached him. “And because I wanted answers. But I think I came looking for the wrong person.”

Those words hut him deeply, felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach. It wasn’t his fault. He

“I’m not the one who has changed, Doctor. But you won’t ever understand that.” He looked up, looking at her with tired eyes.

The Doctor sighed, lowered her tense shoulders

“I think that we both have changed, but you always choose the darker paths. Just let me understand why!! It’s all I’ve ever asked you. I always cover you, again and again,” she walked towards him and pointed at him in the chest, “because I know there is something inside of you, something good that you refuse to be. You could have done so much good… And I want to believe you still can. Please…”

The Master froze but kept his chin up and his emotional barrier even higher. There was something inside him, yes. But it was a voice shouting at him to tell her the truth about her nature, to stop hiding. But the echo of another voice accompanied with the sound of drums grew louder, screaming that he would ruin it all, again, like he always did. What about the show? The impact he could have if he just waited a bit… a few years. How he would destroy her for not being who she should. For being just one of the thousands of lies he had built his life on.

So, he got closer to her. The Doctor made a gesture to step aside, but she didn't move even if she could feel the other’s breath too close to her face. The Master he came to her ear and whispered.

“They deserved it. I don’t regret it”

The Doctor flinched and stepped back, looking at him while pressing her lips together. Repressing all the sadness, rage and pain. The betrayal.

“I should have seen this coming. Have a nice 20th century.” She turned away, walking along the river with her head down. A light drizzle began to fall, so the Doctor put her hood back.

She walked away in silence, leaving him at the mercy of time again. She was being kind.

And the Master would take advantage of that. Eventually.

So, he just turned away… and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's all! 
> 
> If you wanna give any constructive feedback or just your opinion, please, leave it in the comments! It's always appreciated and it helps me a lot. :D

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you liked it! I'll keep writing more chapters, at least two more. I don't not how many yet. I'm not a native English (like many people here, I think), so sorry if there's any mistake! 
> 
> If you wanna give any feedback or just your opinion, please, leave it in the comments! It would be great. :D


End file.
